More Diaries & Letters
Several teachers and neighbors of the Forest Grove Indian School wrote diaries and letters that have survived in the Pacific University Archives.
1881 Diary
1884 Diary
Samuel A. T. Walker (also known as 'Saturday Sam') kept diaries while he was working as the shoemaking instructor for the Forest Grove Indian School. Though each entry is brief, they provide a sketch of the daily routine for the students in his care.
Diary excerpts, 1880-85
Mary Richardson Walker was a former missionary and the mother of Belle Putnam Walker, one of the teachers at the school. Mary visited with and hired Native students from the school, particularly Spokane children who were related to Natives she had known at the Tshimakain mission in the 1830s-1840s. Excerpts from her diary provide information about how the students' lives intersected with the lives of white Forest Grove residents.
Arrival of Puyallup Students, Apr 1882
School is busy, Oct 1882
Mary Frances Lyman was a Pacific University graduate and the daughter of a prominent local preacher and professor. She taught at the Indian School beginning in 1882 or possibly earlier. She wrote numerous letters to her father, some of which mention the school. A particularly interesting letter describes two Spokane students running away on the train and being brought back to the school by other students.
Two students run away, Nov 1882
Quits teaching at the school, May 1883